"BANDITS"

3rd

Platoon

196119

IN THE BEGINNING........

The 3rd Platoon, nicknamed the "Bandits",
did not exist within the 33rd Transportation Company at Ft. Irwin,
CA or when it was deployed to Vietnam. The unit had two platoons
with 10 CH-21B &C "Shawnee" each and that was all.
There was no armed platoon to be used for combat assaults or typical
armed missions.

Not until 16 Sep 63 did the 118th Aviation Company
(AML) officially begin to fly the UH-1B "Huey." This
marked the beginning of the 3rd Platoon and thus armed gun ships
known as "Bandits".

Dave Kenny, one of the original "Bandits"
remembers, "The first day all the Third Platoon pilots
got together in CPT Bobby Bogard's hooch, we talked about how
to conduct missions with gun ships. In fact, we didn't even have
a call sign. CPT Bogard asked for suggestions for a call sign
and a few were submitted and rejected. I yelled out "Bandits"
and immediately it was accepted. we had a Bandit hat pin made
up to wear on our hats, which we all wore."

Most of the pilots were checked out in the new UH-1B
prior to the operational date by transition IPs who came to the
118th in Bien Hoa.

Ralph Young, author ofArmy Aviation in Vietnam,
1961-1963, Vol. 2 on page 82, states, "The 118th
officially became operational with the new type on 16 Sep 1963.
However, a two ship UH-B element had flown to Tay Ninh the night
before(15th) to pick up an injured American advisor. Shortly thereafter
the necessity for two ship flights was dropped as the new UH-1B's
proved to be mechanically more reliable."

One of the pilots who
flew that first mission was CPT Chad Payne, who was already checked
out in the new UH-1B and remembers.."The last CH-21 mission
flown by the 118th was a max. effort out of Phan Thiet(15th).
We flew 6 hours apiece that day and that was a lot in a CH-21.
(Photo of pilots who flew
on that last CH-21 mission) That evening, at our "O"
club, MAJ. David B. Hayes, or CO, asked me if I was drunk yet.
When I answered that I was not, he assigned me a medivac mission
to Tay Ninh. I agreed if I could fly the mission in a new Huey
and he agreed. CPT Jack Phillabaum, Operations Officer, flew as
my co-pilot and we flew after dark to Tay Ninh to pick-up a CPT
Advisor type who had stepped on a mine. We took him to Saigon.
drawing .51 cal. fire on the way up, but it was nowhere close."

Bandit Leaders

Year

Platoon Commander

Platoon Sergeant

1963

CPT Bobby Bogard

SSG Milbauer

1964

CPT Bobby Bogard

-----

CPT Geary Martin

------

CPT James Kilgore

------

CPT Lynn Knisely

-----

CPT Pete Poston

SSG ? Petreguin

SSG Caban

SSG Frantz

1965

CPT Pete Poston

-----

CPT Jim Thompson

-----

CPT Joe Newsome

(1 Oct-5 - Nov 65)

CPT John "Doc" Bahnsen

(6 Nov 65-14 Mar 66)

SGT AndenakoSSG Bob Pinkston(Nov 65 - Jun 66)

1966

CPT John "Doc" Bahnsen

(6 Nov 65 - 14 Mar 66)

-----

CPT Gerald Cubine

(15 Mar 66 --Aug 66)

-----

CPT Raydean Patterson

(Sep 66 -- Dec 66)

------

MAJ Bob Michel

SSG John Kelley

(Jun 66 - Oct 66)

SSG Jimmie Pirtle

1967

MAJ Bob Michel

--------

CPT Jeff Thomason

SSG Jimmie Pirtle

SSG George E. Haskins

1968

CPT Jim Thorne

CPT Tom Easton

1969

CPT Walter M. Garner

1LT Bob Weaver (Temporary)

CPT Cecil Gunter (May 1969)

CPT George W. Estess

SSG Gary Patterson

1970

CPT John W. Kavanaugh

(July 1970)

SFC Gary J. Rhodes

(?-Sep 70)

SSG James Wood

(Sep 70- Mar 71)

1971

CPT John W. Kavanaugh?

SSG James Wood

The Bandit pages and photos
have grown so large they are now displayed on pages for specific
years!

"Home-Made" Armament--1963

At first, "Bandit" gun ship armament
was the XM-6, M-60 flex-guns system from Emerson Electric which
operated using the UH-1B's hydraulic system.

The rocket system was another matter; scrounged
rocket tubes attached in pairs

and the selector and intervalometer from
the B-26 rounded out the hybrid system. It worked!!

Later, the first XM-16 came in country and
was installed on the "Bandit" UH-1B's. (See below)
Note the two M-60 barrels removed and laying on aircraft floor
and the 3/5" WP warheads. The first "must do"
chore for the CE and Gunner, immediately upon landing, was to
remove them for safety.

(Photo courtesy of Wayne Wright)

Busted Huey

According to Bobby Bogard (first Bandit 36)
and Chad Payne, this is

UH-1B # 62-2059(Bandit 4) and the reason it
is squatting low is that apparently

the Crew Chief, who was drunk, decided to
try flying. He had watched the pilots

hover and fly and thought it looked easy.
He got up to a high hover, then

got rattled and set it down, HARD!

According to Chad, this aircraft was the "bad
luck bird". It was the last

UH-1B gun ship received at issue and they
always seemed to have problems with it,

especially after wiring it up for a gunship.
(64)

(Photo courtesy Robert N. Daws)

1964

The very first XM-16 armament system installed
on

"Bandit" UH-1B aircraft. This system
replaced the pieced

and fabricated system which had been used
for months and

as seen in the photo above.

(Photo courtesy Chad Payne)

A permanent sign in front of the Bandit Platoon
HQ

showing all the members of the Platoon. The
list is from

the beginning of the Bandits up through about
mid-1965.

The sign was present in 1966-67, but didn't
seem to

be kept up to date. (65)

(Photo courtesy Harold "Chip" Austin)

LIFE AS A "BANDIT"

SP4 Roberto Flores, Bandit 2 "Hog"

crew chief (64-65)

(Photo courtesy Ralph Orlando)

B Model "Frog" with 48 rockets
and 40MM(1965). A very big load for a UH-1B. Reduced fuel was
the norm and a 1:1 vertical was constant. Most "Frogs"
had 36 or 24 rockets. Note: Cabin top

2LT Wayne Wright pointing out where a single
round "shot-out" hydraulic line on armament causing
the aircraft to lose all hydraulics. Wright was CP w/ company
CO, MAJ Hayes during the evacuation of Bo Tuc, a village north
of Tay Ninh. They landed in the village. (1964)

(Photo courtesy Wayne Wright)

Bandit mascot, "Gunner". Found
as a puppy, "Gunner" grew up and had a free run of
the 118th Area. All agreed, this was better than ending up on
Vietnamese table! No pictures available showing he actually flew
as a Gunner!(1963)

(Photo courtesy Chad Payne)

No name known, but some have said this was
the Senior Advisor! Anyway, Bandits loved their fellow animals.
Where was his helmet?(1963)

(Photo courtesy Chad Payne)

"Look here, it will fit"!

"Yea, but keep her light on the skids"(1963)

(Photo courtesy Chad Payne)

"Jerry" Peffers being the tourist
with movie camera from atop "Bandit" perch.(1964)

WO1 Melvin Koon and some of the 10 holes
in cabin and tailboom. 2 1/2 Km E. of Tan Uyen.

Also on board were CPT Drake(P), Sp4 Guy
Gordon(CE), and SGT Bread(Gunner).

SGT Bread was only one wounded.(64)

(Photo courtesy Melvin Koon)

WO1 Melvin Koon and SP4 Paddie a

Bandit Armorer.(65)

(Photo courtesy Melvin Koon)

SP4 Horace Cleveland Collins who was

killed on 10 Feb 1965. He was a

"Shot Gunner" from the 25th Div.(65)

(Photo courtesy Melvin Koon)

Don Parrish, Pilot 64-65 taking a ride to
Bandit flight line. Note- no revetments during this time

at the "Old Bird Cage in Bien Hoa

(Photo courtesy Ralph Orlando)

TOP GUN
!

The designation TOP GUN not
only was used in the world of US Navy fighter pilots....it was
also a designation awarded to the best helicopter gun ship platoon
in the 12th Combat Aviation Group in Vietnam! At the time, the
12th CAG included at least 8 assault helicopter companies in several
combat aviation battalions.

Meeting north of Bien Hoa, above the
serene and peaceful Song Dong Nai river, a large number of competing
fire teams met to see who would be "crowned" the best
at sinking 55 gallon barrels in the shortest time.

Thanks to the aid and assistance of
Barbara Ross of the Army Aviation Association of America(AAAA)
and its magazine, ARMY AVIATION, an article published
in the January24, 1967 has been found and made
available. The article is reprinted with the permission of ARMY
AVIATION Magazine, and posted on this web site. The article
was written by COL Raymond P. Campbell, Commanding Officer of
the 12th Combat Aviation Group. To read each of the 3 pages of
the article, you will need to have the Adobe Acrobat
Reader.

The reader is available FREE for download
at the Adobe web site by clicking this logo

The TOP GUN competition
was quite handily won by the "crack" Bandit aerial gunnery
team of CW2 Wyburn H. Burroughs, WO1 Marvin W. Schmidt, Crew chief
SP4 Richard Wehr and Gunner PFC Payton Crawford, III. As can be
seen in the article hardly anyone came close, although the gun
crew from the 68th Assault Helicopter Company, "Mustangs"
came in second.

CONGRATULATIONS BANDITS !

I Thought Bungee M-60's Were Outlawed?

Photo taken in 68-70 period showing a CE/Door
gunner using a BUNGEE Cord to suspend his M-60!!

(Photo courtesy Joe Michalkiewicz)

From the very beginning, higher HQs attempted to
forbid gun platoons from using Bungee(which doesn't appear in
my dictionary) cords to suspend the CE/Door gunner M-60's. It
seems there were incidents or near incidents whereby a door gunner,
because of "target fixation", allowed a firing M-60
to traverse into the skid or chin bubble of the Gun Ship. Well....there
might have been some truth to the rumor! But, most Gunship pilots
and crews felt this was a "small price to pay" for the
absolutely essential covering fire-power provided by a Door gunner
when in a steep, tight break or turn. Without it, "Charlie"
just wasn't going to keep his head down. The M-60 hard mount on
the Gunships was used, as various photos show. But, the added
weight, plus limited traverse, plus the "damn thing"
being in the way, always seemed to lead crew members to try and
remove it for such utilitarian reasons. Many crews often just
elected to leave the "damn thing" off. Often, the Bungee
cord won out and was used......until someone shot up the door
or skid. Then HQ's raised hell again and quickly "outlawed"
the practice. It was an on again, off again thing. The Bungee
suspended M-60 also allowed the hot brass to be "sprayed"
all over the cock-pit, which is another story!

Another shot of a bungee M-60 on Bandit "Hog"
in the 67-68 time period.

(Photo courtesy Jim Thorne)

17 Pound vs. 10 Pound Rockets

WO Joe Michalkiewicz, Bandit 34, showing a
comparison of the new 17 pound warhead 2.75" folding fin
rocket. Introduced sometime in 1968, the new rocket had basically
the same rocket motor as the 10 pound warhead rocket. However,
because of the much heavier warhead, the flight characteristics
required the use of not only "windage" correction, but
super-elevation. The 10 pound warhead had several versions including
the HE, White phosphorus(WP) and Smoke. The new 17 pound warhead
had several added varieties such as Flashette. Many stories have
been told of the changes in flight characteristics from the original
6 pound to the 10 pound to the 17 pound warhead rockets. Joe Michalkiewicz
remembers...."Boy, do I remember how much I didn't like the
dropping trajectory of the new 17 lb rockets as compared to the
good old straight-arrow 10 lbs. But, the payload was better with
the 17s and after a while we got used to them."

A written guide for the orientation
and training of Bandit pilots and crews was developed over the
years. It is interesting reading with important "Cardinal
Rules" and "Banditisms" which were derived from
lessons learned in combat. The actual guide was used over 30 years
ago and the techniques listed and outlined were the important
building blocks for U.S. Army armed helicopter tactics in use,
even today.